Category Archives: scholarships

This has been a fun session at Next Up, Lucille Brown. Jason Moorefield 16, Anagha Sinkar 6, and their parents really deserve all the credit for this. Jason is a SCBC Master Coach. You become a Master Coach by coaching 100 sessions. Jason was actually number 114 in the World, Under 16, until his recent birthday. Anagha is 18th for girls under 7 in the US. They alternate Tues and Thursdays as the coaching team of Lucille Brown Middle School. This past weekend at the Meadowdale Spring Tournament, Nazerria Thomas and Laiyla Joseph teamed up to bring home 2nd place in the combined middle and high school section of this national tournament!! Laiyla (R) making her sixth tournament appearance in 6 months knocked of a career high 639 player to get herself an individual medal performance. Nazerria (l) was appearing in her 1st US chess tournament. By the way Coach Anagha played in the k-5 section and finished 1st with a perfect score of 4-0! It was all girl power this weekend! Hats off to the ladies!!!

Nazerria Thomas and Cole Felix are looking forward to Scholarship Chess Business Center’s summer work program. From late June until mid August, selected Rated Tournament Chess Players will be trained in Business to Business Marketing, Fund Raising, and Chess Coaching. Our goal is to show them that they can earn money now and get ready for college. Successful kids coaching successful kids. Let’s see what’s next!?

It is always good for a laugh to hear players and parents talking about how good a 1,000 player is. “Your next opponent is rated 968, be careful.” or I’ll hear a player say, ” Her rating was really high, just over 1,000!). ” I’ll do the best I can their rating is much higher than mine.”. SHAME, SHAME, SHAME on parents and players alike for knowing so little about the rating system! If you pay a coach and your player still thinks a 1,000 rating means anything, that’s even worse!! Chess player egos are the most imagination driven egos in all of sports because the players, parents, and the coaches don’t make sure that everyone understands the rating system. I explain the rating system pretty early on to my private students, and within a tournament or 2 to all the others! If you don’t get to work at helping everyone understand the rating system, you are hurting your player’s growth. Over or under 1,000, they should not be playing blind!

Until you fully understand the ratings system, let’s talk about what to do when the pairings come up. 1) Look up the opponent’s history at USChess! The “General” page will give their rating and category. 2.) Look at their, ” Tournament History” to see how many events they have played in and the highest their rating has been. 3.) Go back to the “General” page and click on “Game Statistics” to see the strongest players they’ve played and the result. 4.) click on, “Record by Year” to see total games, and winning percentage. If you do this the moment the postings come out, you will not be late for the round. Even if you are late, it’s worth a minute or 2 to gather this info so that your player get’s the correct perspective on their opponent!

This past weekend the VSCA held a tournament at Maggie Walker High School. The player rated 908 finished with a perfect score of 4-0 and a new rating high of 1082. I’ll bet that none of his opponent’s knew that this player’s rating had fallen from 1077 in July of 2018, that they’ve only played 44 tournament games and that their record against opponents rated 1,000 or higher was a dismal 1 point out of 8 tries! If you look at all of your previous opponents that have a rating of 1,000 or lower, you will find that none of them have a positive record against players rated over 1,000! The next player finishing with 3.5 watched their rating go from 887 to 968. They’ve played 75 tournament games. they have 1 point out of 5 tries. The player that took 3rd with 3.5 points, watched their rating go from 687 to 964!! They’ve played 51 games, seen a player over 1,000 only twice and lost both times. One player at the tournament who’s rating was 948 at the beginning of the tournament has played 131 tournament games met players over 1,000 only 9 times and has a score of 3.5 against those opponent’s.

The part that makes things confusing is the k factor, (http://www.uschess.org/content/view/12201/221/). The K Factor tells what the maximum number of points a player can get for a win! For players under 1,000 the K factor is 52 or more points. For players at my rating high of 1943 the K factor is 27.5 points! What that means is even if I had scored 3.5 points against players that were rated 235, 198, 259, and 302 above my rating, my new rating would be just 2058. I would have picked up just 115 points, not the 277 that the 687 player got for the same numerical results.

The next time you get paired with someone who’s rating is 1,000 or less just remember, you are supposed to respect your opponent, not put faith in them!! The 964 of today may have been 687 of just 4 games ago! Learn the rating system, play intelligently, and know something about every opponent you play!

RCI’s newest coach, 6 yr old Anagha Sinkar took 1st place in the puzzle solving round and finished with a perfect score of 4-0 to win the k-3 in this event. Anagha will be attending our, “Secrets to Long Combinations” camp the 26th-28. Anagha has had a great year maintaining a 55% win percentage through 14 events, knocking off a 1203 player in Spotsylvania, coming in 46th for girls under 7 in the US, and being appointed as the new coach for Lucille Brown Middle School! Her next appearance will be at the Maggie Walker k-3 tournament in January!

Laiyla Joseph,(left) of Lucille brown ponders her move while earning a ribbon performance in her 1st tournament! Laiyla’s maturity and will to win make her a strong potential coach as well. Laiyla hopes to improve on her rating this Saturday at our monthly tournament. Keep up the good work!

If you want to improve at chess, RCI has the coaching skills and resources to help you make progress fast!!! We are a full time Tournament Chess, Professional Development, and Entrepreneurial Training Company. We train individuals and groups of any age and skill level up 1700. Rates vary depending on your goals, strength, maturity, and length of commitment. Call us today and share what you want your chess future to be like in 2019. I’m sure we can help or get you headed in the right direction! 804-426-6058.

If you want a chess scholarship from US Chess, here is the criteria. Get on board as soon as possible. Once you read this you should have a better understanding of why chess is such a good application builder and why chess deserves to be listed under the, “Accomplishments” instead of, “Hobbies and Interests”! Chess can be a tool or a toy. The choice is yours!!!

By US Chess|January 5, 2018|Administration, College, Kids, News
Are you a chess player and a scholar? If you’re a US Chess member, and a high school junior or senior, please apply for the 2018 Scholar-Chessplayer Award. Download the 2018 Scholar-Chessplayer Application (Word file).
If you are a current US Chess member you are eligible to apply for a 2018 National Scholar-Chessplayer award if you:

Played in at least 25 Regular-rated US Chess or FIDE games during calendar year 2017.Games that are not regular rated do not count towards the 25 game requirement.

Have shown outstanding achievement both in academics and chess

Completed at least one year of chess-related community service since the beginning of 9th Grade

Articulate in an essay (of 500 words or less) how your selection as a 2018 Scholar-Chessplayer will enable you to further your education, and continue your chess activities in the future

A total of five awards of $1,500.00 each will be presented for a total of $7,500.00 in scholarship money. Previous recipients of this award are not eligible. These scholarships are awarded annually by US Chess, and funded by the US Chess Trust and The National Scholastic Chess Foundation. They recognize outstanding high school students who promote a positive image of chess.

Applications are available here.

Applications are scored equally in four areas: Academics, Chess Playing, Community Contributions, and the Personal Essay. Contact Susan Kantor, Scholastics Associate, at the US Chess Office, (931) 787-1234 x136 or email skantor@uschess.org with any questions.

Your completed application consists of the documents listed below. Incomplete applications will not be evaluated by the selection committee.

The cover page of the Application, which contains basic information about yourself.

Your high school transcripts showing all courses and grades.Your SAT or ACT scores (pre-SAT scores are not acceptable).Evidence that you have played at least 25 US Chess or FIDE rated games during calendar year 2017.A list and brief description of your best Chess Accomplishments.Examples of your Chess-related Community Service since the beginning of 9th Grade or later.A letter of recommendation from a teacher in a current or former school you have attended in 9th, 10th, 11th, or 12thA letter of recommendation from a Chess Coach or Tournament Director.A letter of support from someone other than a parent, guardian or relative, attesting to the nature, duration and impact of your chess-related community service. We also encourage you to submit newspaper articles or web-based stories as evidence.Your essay of no more than 500 words describing how your being recognized as a Scholar-Chessplayer would help you continue contributing to the greater US Chess community in the future.
OPTIONAL: A recent color photograph of yourself, either a headshot or full-length.
You can send your application to us in two ways—email or regular mail. If you use email, we must receive your application by Friday, March 2nd, 2018. If you send your application by one of many available postal carriers, it must be postmarked by midnight on Monday, February 26, 2018.

Recipients who attend the 2018 National High School Chess Championship in Columbus, OH on April 27th – 29th, 2018, will be recognized at the event. Attending the 2018 Nationals tournament is not a requirement to be eligible for the 2018 Scholar-ChessPlayer Award.

Send your completed application to:

US Chess Federation

Attn: Susan Kantor

P.O. Box 3967 Crossville, TN 38557-3967

OR Email – Attn: Susan Kantor at skantor@uschess.org

No matter what you want to do in the field of chess, to be a complete chess personality means, you can’t play all the time!! Strong coach, referee, and organizer activities and certifications will sometimes mitigate your rating, but never the other way around!! Just being an applicant for this scholarship is an accomplishment worthy of discernment on a college or employment application!! Master the rules, record your games, and continually prepare for increased leadership! Stop playing around!! lol